Month: May 2015

“The answer to all writing, to any career for that matter, is love.”
—Ray Bradbury

Though I have been in the writing field for about two decades, it was just this past year I started to attend writing conferences. I have attended workshops, but never day-long conferences. Trust me when I say I am kicking myself for not attending these events sooner.

It is Memorial Day weekend, a chance to have a reprieve from work, spend time with family, and, hopefully, enjoy some decent weather.

But, Memorial Day means so much more. It is the day set aside to honor our military’s fallen heroes.

As a military family, we are truly humbled by this holiday. We know the sacrifices made in order to serve. And we are in mourning with the families whose service members made the ultimate sacrifice.

Over the past few years, I have written about service and sacrifice, and compiled a few of my “reader favorites” here, complete with links. Some of these essays have been picked up by other sites, which was a real honor for me.

Please take a moment to remember our fallen heroes and their families this Memorial Day weekend. Whether you attend a parade, a service at a cemetery, or just pause for quiet reflection, know that freedom isn’t free, and we are immensely blessed by those who do serve.

“Every story has an end, but in life every end is a new beginning.” Dakota Fanning

“I don’t think I am handling this very well,” I admitted to my husband.

It all started last week. I went to the high school to pick our daughter up from an event. Since she and her friends began driving, I haven’t had to retrieve her from school very often. As I turned into the parking lot, tears welled up in my eyes.

This was one of the last times I would be at this school. With the exception of one more concert, that is it. She is our last to graduate. Twenty-five years of children in school and it is over.

“There are patterns which emerge in one’s life, circling and returning anew, an endless variation of a theme.” – Jacqueline Carey

Isn’t it funny how life is a full circle?

I remember it so clearly, though it was almost 32 years ago. We had just gotten married, and my husband and I loaded up my not-so-cool 1980 Mustang (a sorry excuse for a “hot” set of wheels… it was the model year when one could buy a four-cylinder, fuel-efficient, nothing-under-the-hood quasi-sports car). We were heading from Michigan to Arizona, where we’d spend a few months while my husband was in school. I was pretty excited as we set off on our new adventure. Of course there were no cell phones, GPS or any other technological conveniences that we are accustomed to having when traveling today. We tossed the bags in the trunk, grabbed the maps, said our teary goodbyes and we were on our way.

It is hard to believe that our youngest child graduates from high school this month.

For 25 years, we have ushered children out the door, snapping photos of the first day of school, chaperoning field trips and asking, “do you have homework?” Twenty-five years of concerts, conferences and sporting events. Each fall I would get writer’s cramp from filling out sets of emergency contact cards and writing dates on the calendar. Two and a half decades of sticker shock from back-to-school clothes and supplies.